


Only watching the skies

by peppypear



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Ashes Scene in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Spidey Sense, Superfamily, spidey POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 23:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppypear/pseuds/peppypear
Summary: INFINITY WAR SPOILERSYoung and terrified, Peter Parker dies on Titan.





	Only watching the skies

When Peter first got the Spider-sense, it had freaked out at _everything._ It didn’t matter whether he was facing bullets or week-old bubblegum on subway seats, the Spider-sense would send a full-body jolt of awareness snapping through him. Having it was like holding the world’s most stressed out cat.

 

After weeks of forcing himself not to dive out of his chair every time he dropped a pencil in class - it had taken months for Flash to stop calling him ‘pee-your-pants Parker’ - the Spider-sense had gradually calibrated itself, allowing Peter to triage the severity of the threat and how to (or not to) react to the danger at hand.

 

A tingle behind the jaw for minor threats - say, a soccer ball speeding into his face, courtesy of Flash.

 

Dodging gunfire was easy with the Spider-sense - the zing in the back of his mind was better than the best sonar. Bullets might as well have been flashing disco lights for all that they whizzed by harmlessly.

 

Fighting the Vulture on the jet had been heart-pounding, but the Spider-sense was there to watch his back - _jump there, watch your legs, watch his wings, on your left, air turbine behind you_ \- guiding him where and when to move, singing all around him like an orchestra. It had never let him down.

 

It was like that now, on Titan, weaving through the rain of debris falling from the sky. Peter swung over a house-sized chunk of moon rock to catch Mantis and Drax. He couldn’t find the blue android lady and he hoped she hadn’t already been hurled into space.

 

It was hard to believe that less than a day ago he was on the bus with Ned and MJ, and now here he was, duking it out with god-aliens on the other side of the galaxy.

 

“Kid!” Star Lord flew up beside him. “It’s all over, Thanos got the Time Stone. We’re screwed.”

 

“What?” Peter’s insides froze. This couldn’t be how it ended. Did that mean both Doctor Strange and Mr Stark were…  

 

Star Lord helped him round up the others, and the five of them headed back to main battle site. Peter felt a flood of relief to see Mr Stark and Doctor Strange were still alive.

 

But something seemed wrong.

 

The Spider-sense buzzed, guiding him to land on the least painful part of the rubble-strewn ground. Beneath his booted feet, fragments of the shattered moon were crushed to dust against the charred red dirt of Titan - particles of space dust and alien ash mingling together, impossible to tell which was which.

 

Doctor Strange was half-leaning, half-lying on the stairs of the ruined hall, eyes closed serenely in meditation. His posture had an air of expectancy to it, as if he had made his peace with a difficult decision.

 

Sitting on a pile of rubble was Mr Stark, gazing at the orange sky with pieces of broken armor scattered around him. One hand dangled loosely at his side and the other was pressed against his midsection below the chest reactor.

 

Coming closer, Peter realised with a jolt that Mr Stark’s face and chest were covered in blood, and his brown eyes were empty, all the fire gone out of them. “Mr Stark-”

 

“This was a mistake,” Mr Stark whispered. His bruised eyes were hollow and he spoke as if Peter wasn’t even there. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

 

“Hey, I think I did okay,” Peter frowned. That was a bit harsh. And yeah, things seemed pretty bleak, now that Thanos had five Infinity Stones under his belt…  Peter didn’t know how they were going to get out of this mess, but he knew they couldn’t just give up the fight. He was sure Mr Stark would come up with something.

 

Iron Man always saved the day.

 

Peter crouched down and slung Mr Stark’s arm over his shoulder, pulling him to his feet. Even without the Iron Man suit, something about Mr Stark seemed smaller and - for lack of a better word - broken, as he leaned heavily on Peter with a hiss of pain.

 

It was hard not to feel a frisson of fear at seeing Mr Stark so defeated. Nervously, Peter started talking, anything to shake the expression of hopelessness on his mentor’s face. “Mr Stark, considering this was my first mission as an Aven-”

 

His Spider-sense thrummed - but that couldn’t be right, none of his surroundings seemed changed. And besides, none of of the others appeared concerned.

 

The Spider-sense crescendoed, getting louder and more insistent, like the rising tone of an air raid siren. _Danger, it_ screamed, _dangerdangerdanger_

 

 _Where_ _?_ Peter looked around frantically, _where is it?_

 

_Everywhere._

 

Then, there was an sickening jolt. As if everything in the universe had suddenly snapped into place.

 

“Something’s happening,” Mantis said. Her large eyes blinked inquisitively, and then she was fading away, gone in a wisp of dust.

 

“Quill,” Drax began, as his brawny shoulders started flaking away to ash. Then he was gone too.

 

“Steady, Quill.” Mr Stark strode towards Star Lord, whose face had gone blank at the loss of his friends.

 

“Oh man,” Star Lord stared at his hands, shock making him look younger than his years. The wave of disintegration engulfed him from head to toe, his body falling apart like cotton candy in water.

 

Peter stepped back in horror as the ashes blew away on the wind.

 

“...Tony, there was no other way.” Doctor Strange was saying to Mr Stark, voice soft and sorrowful. His green eyes didn’t waver from Mr Stark’s as his body, cloak and all, crumbled away to nothing. Vanishing as if he had never been.

 

Peter instinctively moved closer to Mr Stark. He didn’t know how Thanos was causing these disappearances, but there had to be a way to fight-

 

That was when he felt it; a tingle in his fingers, and his Spider-sense exploded to life like a thousand fireworks lighting up the sky.

 

“Mr Stark, I don't feel so good-” Peter clutched his head in his hands. His stomach felt weird, twisted up in knots like he’d eaten the wrong thing before a round of webslinging.

 

“You're all right,” Mr Stark said roughly, but his eyes were wide and afraid.

 

“I don’t know- I don’t know what's happening-” Peter swayed, fighting a wave of dizziness, trying to ignore the prickling under his skin _oh god don’t think about melting, don’t think about melting,_ but he couldn’t get the image out of his head. Not when he’d seen four people dissipate before his eyes.

 

 _No, no, no,_ this couldn't be happening. Not when he was supposed to go to the comics store with Ned after class and get ice creams next Tuesday with MJ…  this was his first mission working with Mr Stark as an Avenger, there were so many more adventures they could have gone on… and May, he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to her…

 

“I don't want to go, I don't want to go-” Peter reached for Mr Stark, but panic made him clumsy and he pitched forward, tripping over his own feet.

 

Mr Stark caught him wordlessly, broad shoulders going rigid with tension as his fingers dug tightly into Peter’s back.

 

Sobbing into Mr Stark’s hoodie, Peter felt a peculiar sensation come over him - a sense of utter wrongness - and he suddenly couldn’t feel the fabric beneath his hands anymore. He looked over Mr Stark’s shoulder and his fears were confirmed; his fingertips were crumbling away. All of it - the Spider suit, fingernails, flesh, and bone - all disintegrating into the same fine ash that had claimed the others.

 

This couldn’t be happening.

 

The awful sight made him cling to Mr Stark even tighter, desperate for any shred of hope. _Iron Man always saves the day in the end,_ he told himself, _Mr Stark will know what to do, he can fix anything_ -

 

Mr Stark would know how to make this better.

 

But the terrifying numbness continued to rise up his limbs, and Peter couldn’t contain a whimper. “Mr Stark, please, I don't want to go, I don't want to go!”

 

_Please don’t let this happen, don’t let it take me. Please help me, please. I don’t want to die..._

 

Mr Stark was squeezing him back like he could shield Peter from the inevitable, as if both of them didn't know that any second now, Peter’s form would unravel, breaking into a billion particles to be scattered to the winds - Peter keened in fear, high and terrified, feeling hot trails burn down his cheeks.

 

His legs stopped working and the world shifted - suddenly Peter was lying on the ground, the Spider-sense shrieking in his mind, screaming at him to _run, get out of there_. But he couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but gaze up at the orange sky. The color was alien, the sickly orange so unlike the golden sunsets over Queens.

 

He was so far from home.

 

Bent over him, Mr Stark’s face was pale beneath the layers of blood and grime, a haunted look welling up in his intense brown eyes. Peter had seen that expression before - he'd seen it in May’s face, those days after Ben’s funeral when she thought he wasn’t looking - and the deja vu sent an arrow of dread straight to his heart.

 

This would destroy her - May was going to be all alone again.

 

The realisation made his eyes sting.

 

This wasn't like the old movies, where Obi Wan accepted his death with a dignified grace - Peter could barely control the shivers that wracked his frame. The wave of numbness climbed past his chest, and Peter gulped in breath after hiccuping breath, trying to calm down, trying to be brave.

 

Mr Stark was clutching his hand but Peter could barely feel it - the nothingness was spreading above his neck. He wished he was stronger, but he was just plain old Peter Parker, a skinny kid from Queens who only wanted to do the right thing. He'd tried his best but his best wasn't strong enough or brave enough. He'd let the Avengers down. He'd let Mr Stark down.

 

“I'm sorry.” Peter whispered.

 

Mr Stark gave a sharp intake of breath, but Peter couldn’t see the look on his face because everything in his vision started going fuzzy.

 

He desperately tried to picture everyone’s faces - of Mr Stark, MJ, Ned, May. He wasn't ready to leave, he couldn't say goodbye, not like this. Not now.

 

He wanted to speak but his throat couldn’t form the words. Peter gazed at the smudge of orange sky above him, willing Mr Stark to read the words in his eyes.

 

_I’m sorry. Tell Aunt May I lo-_

 

And then world crumbled before his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Peter bby :( I wanted to reach into the screen and hug him
> 
> Title inspired by the song “Forever Young” (Alphaville) because I like pain


End file.
